DigiDestined of Respect
by mellra
Summary: This is just an idea I had. Not sure if I'll continue it or let someone else do so. Details are inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the anime/manga/movies/etc. that I write about; otherwise I would be a millionaire NOT writing on fanfiction publishing my own ideas.

You know what they need for Digimon/Naruto fics? More stories where he has either Gaomon, Terriermon, or both! I just think those would be great partners for Naruto to have. Just think, Gaomon is loyal and protective while Terriermon is mischievous and playful. Both of those traits would complement Naruto well! I propose a challenge if you my readers, are willing and/or have time:  
Shortly after Naruto first joined the academy, he notices one of the senior shinobi (Jiraiya, Hiruzen, Kakashi) performing the Summoning jutsu and, after hearing how cool the 4th Hokage was with that ability tries it himself. Due to not having a summoning scroll, he's taken to where his best summoning animal would be. However, the location isn't quite in the Shinobi world! I know Naruto's world has at least some technology (radios, trains, movie theaters) and that was enough for him to be dragged to the Digital World. Set in 01, Azulongmon realizes the Digidestined may need help with the Dark Masters and, sensing the boundaries of reality shifting, uses his powers to bring Naruto to their world as the 8th Digidestined at the same time the original 7 are at the start of the series.  
Naruto is presented with a DigiEgg that hatches into fraternal twins Gaomon and Terriermon and his crest is the crest of Respect (because determination has been done to death and respect is one of the things Naruto's always craved). He hooks up with the other kids shortly before Kuwagamon and helps them in their adventures. Due to only being an academy student Naruto won't be overpowered and can only do Substitution and Transformation techniques, as well as having kunai and shuriken.  
When the kids go back to their world with Myotismon, Naruto is brought as well and uses his survival skills to camp out while looking for the 9th child. At the end of the season, Gaomon and Terriermon both voluntarily go back to Naruto's world because they don't want him to be alone.  
Season 2 would start when Naruto goes on his 3 year training trip, his Digimon acting as his partners similar to summons or the Inuzuka's ninken. Azulongmon, sensing the Digital World is in trouble again, allows Naruto's Digivice to act as a gateway for him where he goes to the Digital World between training with Jiraiya.

Season 2 Naruto obviously has more attack power with him but it still won't be enough to fight Ultimate to Mega level opponents and he works with his partners in various combos to fight. He works well with the group due to having teamwork drills with Team 7 and understands how important working together is. Also, just because he has two Digimon does not mean they should be over-powered. In fact, I don't even think they should reach mega level until sometime during season 2.

For Pairings, I'm personally partial to Naru/Hina myself but in all honesty I'd rather keep pairings as a minimal concern and just focus more on the main plot.

That's all I've got. What do you think? Let me know if you'd be interested or if you know someone who may be interested please! Here is a small idea for a prologue to appease the masses. If no one takes the idea in one year's time, I may have to write it myself because I really want to see this done in some way. For now though, I'm hoping an author with way more talent than myself when it comes to writing stories would give it a shot. Reviews and PMs are welcome and encouraged, while I'll pee on every flame to put it out. If you want to do this story, please contact me and we can iron out the details.  
Thanks and enjoy the sample prologue!

P.S. There are some ANs at the end to answer some questions you may have.

**Prologue**

Naruto closed the door to his apartment with giddy excitement. Today he had seen what had to be the coolest jutsu ever! After one of his latest pranking exploits (shaving "Naruto is awesome" into all of the deer at the Nara compounds fur), the Anbu member Dog (identified by the dog mask he wore and his gravity defying silver hair) used a jutsu called 'Summoning Jutsu' in order to summon a talking dog that helped sniff him out of his hiding spot in a nearby tree. After getting (halfheartedly) reprimanded by the Anbu for the prank, to which he only half paid attention to, Naruto went over the hand signs the man did in order to summon the dog in his head.

Sure he'd heard of how the Fourth Hokage had used a jutsu to summon a giant toad to battle the Nine-Tailed Fox that'd been attacking the village, but to see the jutsu himself…! Naruto's eight year old mind whirled with the possibilities. If he got that jutsu down, he'd most defiantly get the respect he deserved! And, if he was to be completely honest with himself, it'd give him a friend that he so desperately wanted. He quickly went into the middle of his room, going over the hand signs once more in his mind while preparing his chakra for the jutsu he was about to try. Naruto couldn't help but wonder what he'd summon. Would it be a toad? A dog? A phoenix? A DRAGON?! So many possibilities!

Of course he realized most likely that if he summoned a bigger animal there wouldn't be much left of his apartment, but he figured the village would be so mesmerized by his awesomeness that they'd _give _him a new apartment! With that in mind, Naruto started making the hand seals, slowly to make sure he didn't mess up, and channeled as much chakra he felt was necessary before slamming his hands onto the ground and shouted out, "SUMMONING JUTSU!" Not fully aware of the consequences his actions will have.

There was a large puff of smoke then darkness.

**Somewhere in the Digital World**

Azulongmon grimaced as he stretched his aching body. It had been a few days since the Dark Masters had started their attack on the four Sovereign, and as of now the mighty Dragon Digimon tried to gather his wits in this momentary lull in fighting. While it was true that he and his allies were the four most powerful Digimon currently ruling the Digital World, the four Dark Masters were all powerful in their own right. Four Mega Level Digimon, all with unique powers and an army of followers to back them up, were enough to cause the Digital Dragon to worry. Not only that, but he was confident there was a more powerful, darker force behind the attack that was starting to cause ripples in the main part of the Digital World. He had no doubt that if the Sovereign lost, the entirety of this world and others would fall into chaos.

Other dark Digimon were starting to move in as well, from Champions to Ultimates, there was no telling the damage this all would cause! He was eternally glad he'd thought ahead and prepared the eight Digimon to be selected to be the chosen warriors that would pair up with human partners in order to clear up the mess currently happening in the Digital World, and hopefully end this darkness in the event that they couldn't! It was a shame the Sovereign had to wait this long in order to finally put their plan into action. The rifts between this world and the Human World needed to be destabilized just enough to pull the right children through to fight for their cause. While it pained him to use children to fight a battle that was, by all rights, something the adults should handle themselves, it couldn't be helped.

Only children had enough strength of spirit and the power to form strong enough bonds to make a difference. Adults were to untrusting of each other and their spirits are weaker thanks to the toils of living through more of life's hardships. He knew it was rather cruel, but what choice did he have? If he didn't have strong enough warriors to help them in this crisis, the entire universe, and even other universes, could suffer! Still, a part of the Dragon was worried. Would the children's and their partner's strength be enough? The enemies that they'd face would be terribly strong, and there was always the chance that they couldn't win.

Azulongmon was snapped out of his musings when he felt a shift in the boundaries between realities. 'What?' the Great Dragon thought. 'Why is the boundary between worlds getting weaker? We haven't even called for the children yet, it was supposed to be later tomorrow!'

It was then that the Sovereign noticed the anomaly wasn't originating from the human world he was thinking of. No, it was from one of the other dimensions that can be accessed through the DigiWorld*. Curiosity getting the better of him, Azulongmon gave a little power to the rift to see what would happen. Imagine his surprise when a young child with blond hair and whisker-like marks fell out of the rift. Upon inspection, the Dragon noticed the boy was out cold, a side-effect from dimensional travel, but was otherwise unharmed. Noticing a strong energy coming off the small boy, Azulongmon quickly used his talents to shift through the boy's mind to see where he came from.

What he saw stunned him. Humans from a world different from the one that gave birth to him, ones that used many similar attacks to Digimon! He saw many great and powerful individuals through the boy, no Naruto's, mind and was able to learn of the world he was born in. Azulongmon also saw the situation behind Naruto's birth, and was saddened at the hardships the young human had to go through because of events outside of his control. But beneath all the sadness and loneliness Naruto felt, Azulongmon saw something else. An ironclad determination, endless amounts of spirit and compassion, and a large craving for respect.

'Hmmm…Well Naruto, you may have a larger purpose in your life than even you're aware of,' the Mega mused. The child from another world had many traits, both good and bad, but mainly those that he sought after for the DigiDestined. Chuckling at his good fortune, the Sovereign was able to will a DigiEgg, complete with Digivice, into being and carefully placed them both on the boy before sending him off using the Digital Stream that made up the core of the Digital World so he'd be at the location where the other children would be sent to the following day.

'It is fortunate,' Azulongmon thought to himself, 'that I had that spare egg, crest, and Digivice made if an event such as this were to happen. By now the crest and tag should be hidden with the others. I just hope Naruto will be able to handle what has befallen him, and that he'll be able to help the others.'

Turning back to the landscape, Azulongmon got ready to rejoin his brethren in another battle with the Dark Masters but not before giving a final farewell, "Good luck, Naruto Uzumaki, the DigiDestined of Respect!"

**Scene Break (File Island)**

"Do you think he'll wake up?" was what Naruto first heard as he slowly became conscious.

"I hope so," another voice said, both of which sounded like young children. By the tone they were using, Naruto would guess that two boys had found him…wherever he was at. The last thing he remembered was attempting the Summoning Jutsu when everything went black.

'Iruka-sensei did say if you lose too much chakra you risk passing out, even dying,' Naruto rationalized as he analyzed his body to make sure nothing else was wrong. Besides feeling a slight headache, a little stiff in the muscles, and a strange weight on his chest, he actually felt pretty good. Slowly, he crack one eye open to see where he was at. 'How'd I get in the forest?' he wondered as what first greeted his eyes were lush trees and bushes as far as he could see. 'Wait, I don't recognize these trees!' Naruto thought in a slight panic.

It was then he heard one of the voices from earlier pipe up, "Hey look! He's awake!"

Naruto lowered his eyes to his chest where the voice, and weight, was coming from. What he saw shocked him. Two smallish creatures were sitting on his chest, looking at him with a mix of concern and glee. One of the creatures looked like a white blob with a head that had a horn, a tiny mouth with two protruding sharp teeth, and two ear-like protrusions coming out of it, as well as two small black eyes that seemed to dance with joy and mischief. The second creature looked like a blue cats head with cheerful yet serious green eyes and a tail that protruded from its back, as well as blue stripes along the body that also formed an 'M' in the center of its forehead. Naruto blinked at the two strange creatures twice as they stared at each other for a minute.

Both the blob and the head gave near identical grins and said in unison, "Hey Naruto!"

Naruto acted accordingly.

**Gennai's House**

Gennai was attending his rock garden located deep within a lake on the other side of File Island when he heard it.

"YYYYYYYAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The old man paused in what he was doing to look and see where the high-pitched, girlish scream came from. Seeing no one, he went back to attending the sand while silently vowing to lay off the day old clams.

**Back to the trio**

"Hey Wanyamon, what do you think he's doing up there?" asked the blob to the head.

"Don't know Gummymon, maybe he really loves climbing trees?" the head, Wanyamon, responded as it (he?) used its tail to shield its eyes as it looked up at the ridiculously high tree to where Naruto was now clinging onto for dear life, pale in the face and sweating.

"I don't know bro, looks to me like he saw a Bakemon to me," the blob, Gummymon, said jokingly while hopping in place in excitement.

"Wh-who or what are you?!" Naruto stammered while holding onto the tree even tighter, hoping that the two creatures couldn't climb to meet him.

"Ah, where are my manners!" the cat's head bopped himself on the top of his head with his tail. "My name's Wanyamon," he said with a grin and pointed his tail at himself.

"And I'm his fraternal twin brother, Gummymon! It's great to finally meet you Naruto!" the blob said with a salute of one of his ear-like appendages.

"And we're…" the two creatures said in unison, "Digimon~! Digital Monsters!"

"D-Digimon?" Naruto questioned, confused. While the two creatures startled him at first, now that he had a better look at them he'd be hesitant to call them "monsters." They were actually kinda, dare he say it, cute. Naruto slid down the tree to land in front of the two chibi-monsters and idly noticed that they didn't even quite reach his knees in height. As they looked up at him with big, curious eyes (and he had to repress the urge to pick them up in a hug), something suddenly occurred to Naruto as he remembered what he was doing earlier.

"Are you guys my summons?" Naruto asked in confusion. He'd never heard of 'Digimon' before so it was weird that these two creatures would be his summons. Heck, they didn't even look alike!

Gummymon tilted his head cutely while Wanyamon just looked confused for a second before the cat's head answered, "Not really sure what a 'summon' is but we're your partners. We were born to stick by you through thick and thin!"

"Yep, yep~! We're your friends!" answered Gummymon in a slightly singsong voice while once again hopping up and down a little.

Naruto's eyes widened at that. "Friends." He knew that word, yet he's hardly ever used it unless the sentence started with "I want…" And here these two strange creatures in a strange land, proclaiming to be his friends. Normal people would be suspicious and confused at first, but to an attention starved child only one thing really got through his brain. 'These guys are my…my…'

With that, Naruto reached down and wrapped the two Digimon in a hug, slightly crying as he did so. Both of the Digimon looked slightly startled at first but then their features softened as they tried hugging their partner back (an awkward task seeing as they both lacked any major limbs). Suddenly, a small device that was clipped to Naruto's pants, that he failed to notice in all the excitement, started to light up. Both Digimon and human looked down at the glow in surprise before both Wanyamon and Gummymon were lit up in a similar glow.

"**Gummymon, Digivolve to…Terriermon!" **

"**Wanyamon, Digivolve to…Gaomon!" **

The shouts that started were those of the Digimon he first met, but then their voices changed, become slightly deeper and more like those of a preteen instead of that of a toddler. When the light died down two very different creatures stood in their place. What was once Gummymon now looked like a large bipedal rabbit with ears as long as his body and had tan fur with green mixed in to form different patterns. He still had the horn on his head and shining black eyes but now he had four limbs, two arms and two legs, and each held four black claw-like fingers.

In Wanyamon's place was what looked like a blue, bipedal dog with a white muzzle and underbelly, and had on a red headband that matched the gloves on his hands. His feet held three sharp looking claws and his tail was now curly and white tipped behind him.

"Hey~! We both Digivolved!" the rabbit like creature (Gummymon?) exclaimed in a happy voice.

"That we did," the puppy (Wanyamon?) said in a slightly more mature sounding voice as he examined his gloved hands (paws?).

"Wh-what happened to you two?!" Naruto cried out in amazement.

The two looked at him and it was the bunny who answered, "We Digivolved, silly~!"

"What he means is," started the puppy in a lecturing sort of voice Naruto has come to expect from Iruka-sensei, "Is that we Digimon have different forms that we go through. First there is the Baby stage, which we hatched out of. Then there is the In-training stage, which is what you just saw us in. We currently are in our Rookie form. I'm Gaomon and that's Terriermon. And there are several other forms that we can reach after this. We get stronger in each form, but it takes a lot of energy to get to these forms. That's why we needed your help. That device that was glowing earlier," Naruto held up said device, "is called a Digivice and it allows you to transfer energy* to us in order for us to reach our next level." With that, Gaomon dropped out of his 'lecture mode' and went back to normal saying, "At least, that's how I understand it."

Naruto had a huge question mark hanging over his head at that and Terriermon seemed to have lost interest in the conversation, using his long ears to glide up to the top of Naruto's head and started playing with his spikey blond hair. Gaomon had a sweatdrop on the back of his head and coughed into a gloved fist. "Anyway, the short answer is, with your help we reached the next level and are stronger for it."

Naruto gave a slow nod in understanding while Terriermon hopped off his head and landed back beside Gaomon again. The bunny Digimon then said in a chipper voice, "Well, now that the boring stuff is done," Gaomon glared at his brother for that but was ignored, "we should take you to meet the others! Boy, won't they be surprised~? Last ones to hatch, first to Digivolve~! They'll be soooo jealous!" he giggled into his hands at that.

Naruto looked curious and asked, "Others?"

Gaomon nodded his furry head and said, "Yes, there were 7 other Digimon that we've met that were waiting for partners as well. They're convinced that since the three of us appeared that their partners should be arriving soon as well. They're nice guys just a little…energetic."

With that, both Terriermon and Gaomon took hold of their partner's hands and started to lead him through the thick jungle. Naruto had a feeling that things were going to get really interesting in the next few days and maybe, maybe he would never have to be alone again!

If only he knew…

*(1)- As shown during the episode when the kids and the Digimon first left after Myotismon, Gennai mentioned that the doorway could lead to other dimensions if they got the key wrong. I'm just playing Naruto's world as one of those dimensions.

*(2)- I plan on this story that Naruto's natural chakra reserves give him more energy than normal humans, which means his Digimon will have an easier time Digivolving on cue instead of having issues like the kids had in the original Season 1.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. I wish I did, but such is life.

**AN: **Okay, while not as many people were interested in my previous Naruto/Digimon story as I had hoped, I really hope someone will be interested enough for this idea. For this challenge, Naruto will be in the Tamer's universe but I've added in my own twists to keep it original. Most ideas for the Tamer's universe have been done (sometimes to death) and I hope these ideas freshen it up a little. For starters, Naruto is born in the Tamers universe, like how some fics do. Secondly, however, Naruto is eight, around Susie's age, as opposed to how he's usually portrayed as the main kids' age or even slightly older. Finally, for his Digimon partner I've chosen Gomamon. He's one of my favorite Digimon and I honestly think he's underused in these types of stories. Also, I think his and Naruto's personalities match up fairly well, don't you agree? (Also there is the fact the Mohawk on his head is orange, can't forget about the orange.)

Now some may argue that Naruto is way too young to be of any use and the other Tamers would try and shield him from danger, but I've got a plan for this. I was thinking that Naruto would act a lot like Jade from the Jackie Chan Adventures cartoon and like Miko from Transformers Prime, in that despite the 'adults' telling him he can't do something or go somewhere he does so anyway, usually by sneaking among the group in the confusion. That way, when the kids go to the Digital World and when they do all there fights, Naruto usually shows up at some point because he was following them. Instead of getting in the way, Naruto actually tends to be more of a help than a hindrance, because he's more mature than most eight year olds.

The reason behind this maturity (though he still acts like a lovable, goofy kid most of the time) is because in this story his parents are both a part of the Shinjuku Police Department, and as a result Naruto doesn't see them too much. The ones responsible for watching him are his godparents, Jiraiya and Tsunade, but they tend to be busy as well so Naruto was taught how to live on his own for the most part. This works out for when he gets Gomamon so no awkward questions are asked.

Naruto meets Gomamon while playing in the Shinjuku park one day and the two become fast friends, and soon after partners. A few weeks later, they run into the Tamers when Takato first meets Rika and Henry, and is trying to fight Renamon with Guilmon. Gomamon senses their fight and leads Naruto to the area, and they are able to stop the fighting by having Gomamon Digivolve to Ikkakumon and knock out a rampaging Gargomon. He then decides to follow the Tamers around for fun like what Calumon does. I was thinking Gomamon reaches Ultimate during one of the Deva fights like against Vikaralamon; and Biomerges with Naruto into Vikemon when the fight against the D-Reaper is happening, shortly after Dobermon's sacrifice.

No real pairings planned (because honestly, Naruto's eight). Maybe at the end Susie can give him a kiss on the cheek or something to imply a future pairing but that's it. And no harems! Also, I plan on Naruto getting along well with all of the Tamers and their Digimon (after Rika stops being an ice queen), and even has a prank war with Impmon, so maybe he'll make up with Ai and Mako earlier and not go on a rampage. This of course means Leomon would live and the D-Reaper would have to find a new way to the real world without Jeri's help, but that can be discussed later.

Again, this is a **CHALLENGE **people, so I have no intention of continuing the story beyond this opening chapter. You want to see more? Take up the challenge or find a friend who'd want to do it. Also, if you do want to do the challenge please either PM me or ask in the review section. Any who, on with the sample chapter!

**Naruto, the Tamer**

A young, eight year old blond child happily kicked around a bright blue ball in Shinjuku Park one bright afternoon. The boy's name was Naruto Namikaze who had spiky blond locks, sky blue eyes, and whisker like birthmarks on both of his cheeks. His godparents, Jiraiya and Tsunade, were on the other side of the park while Naruto idly played with his ball. Why was an eight year old at the park with his godparents not supervising him you ask? Well, both of the boy's parents had pressing jobs as police officers for the Shinjuku area, and as a result weren't able to spend as much time with their son as they would like.

Little Naruto didn't mind so much though, seeing as he knew how important his parent's jobs were. And it wasn't like his parents neglected him or anything; they still came to all of his birthdays and made sure that whenever they were off duty to spend as much time as possible with him. Sometimes like today his godparents would watch over him, but they too had pressing jobs. Jiraiya worked as a famous writer and worked for nature magazine companies, sending him all over the world. Tsunade was a renowned medic who had a big role in the local hospital. They also tried to spend as much time as possible with their godson, but life would make it difficult most of the time. So, the boy's parents taught him how to take care of himself for the most part when no one was around to look after him. He knew how to cook, clean up after himself, and also how to defend himself thanks to his parents training. This way, if they couldn't find anyone to look after him they wouldn't have to worry as much (though they still did most of the time, as any good parent would).

Because of this, Naruto could be extremely mature for his age, and had a keen mind for most situations. Of course, he'd still play around and be goofy like any regular kid, but when the situation called for it Naruto could really rise to the occasion. All in all, Naruto was happy with his life. Though at times, he felt a bit lonely. Sure he made the occasional friend at school, but none really lived by him and one of the things he wasn't allowed to do on his own yet was travel and explore the city, so he couldn't meet up with his friends too much outside of school. Little did Naruto know that this day would change that for him.

Naruto smiled as he was able to kick his ball up and balanced it on the top of his head. The ball was one of his favorite toys, as it was a gift his father gave him for his last birthday. The ball was the same color as his eyes, and was designed in such a way that it looked like it was constantly spiraling in place (1). So focused was he at keeping the ball balanced on his head, that Naruto never even noticed the thick fog creeping up on the area at an almost supernatural rate. The blond only really took note of the fog when it gathered to the point where he could barely see his hand in front of his face. Blinking, the whiskered child looked around at his surroundings.

"What the-? This wasn't here a moment ago!" he said in shock. Losing his focus, the ball on the top of his head rolled off and started to bounce along the ground until it faded into the fog. "Oh no! Come back!" Naruto called out to his ball as he followed it through the fog, trying desperately to see where he was going.

Hearing a light splashing noise, Naruto slowed his pace until he found himself at the shore of a small pond that was located in a corner of the park. Peering through the fog, Naruto was able to make out his ball floating on the surface of the water a few feet from the shore. "Aw man, that's just perfect!" the boy moaned as he bent down to look for a stick to pull the ball closer to himself.

Suddenly, much to Naruto's shock, the ball launched itself out of the water and nailed him right in forehead, causing him to fall on his behind with a startled yelp. Rubbing the spot the ball hit him; Naruto looked out at the now still water with an incredulous expression. Hesitantly, the eight year old grabbed the ball where it lay beside him and gently tossed it back into the water with a plop. It bobbed in place for a moment or two before it suddenly launched itself back out of the water into Naruto's waiting arms. Amazed, Naruto set the ball down and leaned out over the water, trying to peer into the slightly murky water. As this happened, the fog surrounding the area started to thin out once more.

Naruto looked into the water for a couple minutes before thinking that maybe his mind was playing tricks on him. Before he could stand back up and walk away, however, a face suddenly burst from the water and found itself nose to nose with a startled young boy. Sky blue eyes blinked into sea green eyes that blinked right back. The face gave a mischievous smirk before shouting out, "BOO!"

"GAH!" Naruto screamed before once more falling onto his backside. The face gave a childish laugh before a body followed it out of the water. When Naruto was able to still his racing heart, he was able to get a good look at the being that came from the water in the sunlight that had broken through the fog. What first came to the boy's mind was that it was a white seal the size of a large fox, but there were several noticeable differences. For one, the being had purple, tribal like markings all over its white furred body. It also had a bright orange Mohawk on the top of its head that seemed to stick out in random directions between its long ears. Long, harp black claws adorned its hands and feet, which looked capable of punching through steel. The mouth, which was still curled up into a mischievous grin, had two sharp canines that poked out. Finally, its sea green eyes danced with a childish joy and innocence.

"Heh that was fun! Can you do that again?" the being said in the voice of a young boy.

Naruto was startled by both the thing's appearance and now the fact that it could talk like a human. As his young mind tried to process what was happening, a part of him couldn't help but think that he'd seen the being somewhere before. But for the life of him he couldn't remember where. The creature tilted his head cutely at the staring boy and asked him, "Hey, are you alright? You look like you've seen a Bakemon!"

Hearing the name Bakemon caused Naruto's mind to instantly know why the being before him looked so familiar! He looked exactly like Gomamon, one of the Digimon from the popular TV show and card game! Naruto, like most children these days, was an avid fan of the popular series and had collected several dozen of the cards himself. He never in his wildest dreams imagined though that the strange yet amazing Digital Monsters actually existed.

"G-Gomamon?" Naruto asked hesitantly, wondering if he was hallucinating the whole thing.

The creature looked slightly surprised at this. "Wow, you already know my name! Are you psychic or something?" the now identified Gomamon asked curiously.

Getting over his shock as only children can, Naruto leapt to his feet and cried out in both joy and amazement, "Wow! A real life Digimon!"

Gomamon seemed a little taken aback by the sudden change in attitude. "You're weird. Are all humans strange like that?" he stated innocently.

Naruto blushed at this, embarrassed that he kinda made a fool of himself in front of an actual Digimon. "S-sorry," he stuttered out, "it's just that I had no idea that Digimon actually existed," he paused and let the awkwardness pass over the situation. Trying to think of a way to break the tension, Naruto thought up a question, "Hey so um, how did you get here anyway?"

Gomamon perked up at this. "Well, I was swimming along in the sea, minding my own business, when suddenly that big bully Seadramon started causing problems. The guy's a real jerk, ya know? Always picking on weaker Digimon, causing whirlpools to appear out of nowhere, eating all of the food in the area, the works. Any who, today that tuna brain was really getting nasty, and he chased me all the way to shore! I'd have been a goner if that Digital Field didn't show up!" he finished perkily.

"Digital Field?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"Yeah," Gomamon nodded, "A Digital Field is what they call a rift between the Digital World and the Human World. Anyway, so I decided to go through the Digital Field to lose that big anchovies. Luckily, it was located in a narrow cave so Seadramon couldn't fit his fat head through it. The moron probably got himself stuck trying to come after me!" he finished with a good natured laugh.

Naruto couldn't help but smile at the mental image of a big Digimon like Seadramon getting his head stuck in a cave. Naruto then asked the Rookie Digimon, "So what do you want to do now?"

The seal-like Digimon seemed thoughtful for a moment, "Well to be honest I don't really know. I've heard some Digimon have been coming to the Human World hoping to find a human tamer to get stronger, but I'm not all that interested in getting super strong or anything. Honestly, I just like to have fun! Maybe I can find something new here in the Human World to keep myself occupied," he finished with a big grin.

Naruto nodded in understanding at that, his childlike innocence seeing the logic in Gomamon's statement. Picking up the ball, Naruto gave the Digimon a matching grin. "Well, would you like to play some ball with me? It'll be fun!" He asked as he bounced the ball between his hands.

Gomamo's eyes gained an excited gleam. "You bet I would!" he cheered as he got ready to play. The two played around in the park for the better part of the day after that, going from passing the ball to each other in increasingly difficult maneuvers, to playing hide and seek throughout the park (Gomamon wasn't allowed to dive into the water while Naruto couldn't hide up in the tree to give each other unfair advantages). By the time they were done, the sun was low in the sky.

Both Naruto and Gomamon lay side by side in the cool grass, slightly panting from the day's activities. Turning towards the Rookie, Naruto gave a large smile, "So, was that fun enough for you?"

Gomamon winked at his new human friend and said, "You bet! If this is what life will be like in the human world, then I've got no problem with staying."

The blond nodded at this and was struck by inspiration. "Hey, Gomamon?" he asked hesitantly, not wanting to sound too eager.

"Huh?" was the Digimon's response.

"Would you…Would you want to stay with me while you're in the Human World? At least of a bit!" He rushed out, seeing Gomamon arch an eyebrow-like mark on his face. "It's just…well my parents are away most of the day, so you and I can hang out for most of the day there without answering any questions. Plus, I'll be able to get you food there and you'll have a place to stay. So would you like to?" he finished, giving his best 'pleading-puppy-look'.

"Sure!" was the happy response from the little Digimon, causing Naruto to face-vault at how easy it was to convince him. Naruto looked at the Data type in surprise.

"R-really?!" he asked hopefully, wondering if it could really be that simple.

"Yep! You're a pretty cool guy, Naruto. I honestly wouldn't mind you as a friend, so I've got no trouble staying with you!" Gomamon said joyfully (2). He held up a paw for the boy to shake.

Naruto was a bit taken aback by this. This being, this Digimon, something that he didn't even know truly existed until that day, wanted to be friends with him. In all honesty, how could he refuse such a once in a lifetime opportunity? So, reaching out with his hand, Naruto grasped onto Gomaomon's paw. Suddenly, warmth seemed to flow between the two until a light shone right between them. It was so intense that they both had to close their eyes for a moment. When the duo was able to see again, they saw a strange looking device floating between them. Hesitantly, Naruto reached out and grabbed the device to get a better look at it. The object was mainly white in color, though it had purple in patterns similar to those on Gomamon. There was a slot on its side which indicated something could be slid through it and finally, there was a bright orange strap that could be used to clip on to a person's clothes.

"Hey, I know what that is!" Gomamon said excitedly, the little Digimon was practically bouncing in place with excitement. "That's a Digivice! That means we're officially partners now, Naruto!"

"Whoa," was all Naruto could say as he stared at the small device in his hands and couldn't help but wonder what the future had in store for him now. If only he knew…

1\. An Easter Egg for all you Naruto fans!

2\. I've always seen Gomamon as having a very chipper, laid-back personality.

**Digimon Information: Gomamon**

Gomamon is a Sea Animal Digimon whose name and design are derived from the spotted seal. It has become able to move on land, and is covered in temperature-maintaining fur. The short, white fur that covers its body gets longer as it grows, and furthermore, it's said that it turns brown when it grows up. As for its personality, it is a naughty-boy type that fiddles with everything it sees. The red fur growing along its back from the top of its head moves according to Gomamon's emotions, and when it gets angry the fur bristles. Gomamon's claws are strong enough to easily break through solid ice, so you'll have a painful experience if you take it lightly.

**Attacks**

**Marching Fishes**: Commands its tiny fish followers for multiple uses.

**Claw Attack**,: Uses sharp claws to slash its enemy.

**Sharp Edge**: Uses claws to attack at a rapid speed.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: **Well, this might be my last challenge chapter for a while, as school will be starting up again soon and I promised you all that I'd start working on my main stories again as soon as that happened. That's not to say I won't pop out a challenge chapter here or there, as I have a ton of ideas rattling around in my head that I feel the need to get out. This one here is the final Naruto/Digimon idea I have for now, and it focuses on Season 4: Frontier. Now most Naruto/Digimon stories I've seen focus more on Tamers, with an occasional Season 1 and 2 thrown in for good measure. The Frontier one has happened rarely though, and I hope to change that. Now the versions that I have seen, usually have the idea of Naruto replacing Takuya in getting Agunimon, though I have seen one where he gets Grumblemon. No offence to those authors, it is just that I feel as if the whole Agunimon thing is both overdone and it takes away the plot from the main character. Also, I just don't like Grumblemon, plain and simple.

So this got me thinking; I want a Naruto in Frontier story where he has his own spirit, that's not an OC, and doesn't steal the plot from the main characters. Then it hit me like a raging bull! Most stories where Naruto gets a bloodline of some sort usually have him (when it isn't an eye-related bloodline) get the Wood Release, so which Digimon spirit deals with wood attacks? That's right, Arbormon! Not only does he have wood based attacks that can be used to replicate Wood Release, but he's actually one of the only Dark Legendary Warriors (besides Duskmon) that I liked.

Mercurymon was just too theatrical for me, Ranamon was a shallow seafood platter, and Grumblemon had a head full of rocks. Only Arbormon was of any interest, and he had a fairly cool Beast Spirit too! Now of course, with Naruto behind the wheel Arbormon wouldn't be nearly as lazy as he was in canon, but some of his traits would probably reflect on Naruto in a way. As for when Naruto would get his Spirit, I'd think it would be some time before J.P. and Zoe got their Spirits, in a completely original arc. As for when he'd get his Beast Spirit, maybe it should happen just before the gang enters the Forest Terminal, maybe at that one ramen stand they stopped at.

Now as for who should replace the villain in those episodes with Arbormon I actually have an idea on that. The Dark Legendary Warriors decide to hire a powerful Digimon to get a better feel for the humans and what they're capable of, and they go with Orochimon (in tribute to Orochimaru). He'd take the place of Arbormon's character villain wise and would be a good challenge for Naruto to overcome. No real pairing planned because honestly there were all of 2 girls in the entire series. This challenge chapter takes place when Naruto gets his Spirit, because the beginning of the story would be similar to canon and can be done in any way the author sees fit. I just figured that this would be a good place to start. Just fyi, Naruto is the same age as Takuya in this fic.

Again, this is a **CHALLENGE **people, so I have no intention of continuing the story beyond this opening chapter. You want to see more? Take up the challenge or find a friend who'd want to do it. Also, if you do want to do the challenge please either PM me or ask in the review section. Any who, on with the sample chapter!

**Naruto, Spirit of the Forest**

A twelve year old Naruto Uzumaki sighed as he listened to his two new friends, Takuya and Zoe, start to argue…_again. _'Seriously, those two should just get a room and get it over with,' he thought in irritation as they were shouting over some trivial matter or another.

It also didn't help that their two Digimon friends, Bokomon and Neemon, were getting into another one of their fights. And by that I mean Neemon said something air-headed and Bokomon responded by snapping the taller Digimon's pants in a painful way. J.P. was busy trying to make himself look impressive to Zoe, and failing epically since the only girl in the group wasn't even looking at the older boy. Finally their youngest member, Tommy, was looking nervously between the two arguing older kids, looking like he wanted to break up the fight but was too nervous to say anything.

'We are, without a doubt, the weirdest group in the history of the Digital World,' Naruto thought dryly as he pulled out his D-Tector idly while looking at the light brown and burnt orange device. 'How'd I get myself sucked into this again?' he wondered as he stared at the blank screen.

**Flashback**

Naruto happily sat at his favorite ramen stand, slurping up his third bowel of noodles. He wore a bright orange hoodie today and jean shorts, with orange running shoes on his feet. His bright blond hair and shining blue eyes made him the brightest human in the surrounding area, but he didn't mind. Naruto happened to like bright colors, as he felt more of an individual in them. What's more, his whisker-like birthmarks made him feel like one of the most unique people alive. His parents were at work today, and he wanted to enjoy his break in the best way the blond knew how: stuffing himself with ramen till he puked!

Before he could order another bowel, his cellphone rang. "Hm?" Naruto wondered as he looked at the screen, an eye like symbol staring back at him.

"_Naruto Uzumaki, your destiny awaits," _a smooth female voice sounded from the cell.

"Well lady, you've got my attention," Naruto stated as he peered at the glowing screen.

"_I want you to play a game, are you interested?" _the voice said before a 'yes/no' option appeared on the phone.

Intrigued, Naruto was going over his options. "I didn't really have anything better to do today, so a game might be fun. Though I swear, if this is another one of those crappy chain-phone call things I'm going to give the phone company such an earful!" he said out loud while pressing the 'OK' button. Suddenly, there was a series of instructions given on his phone. Leaving money on the counter to pay for his ramen, Naruto quickly dashed out to reach the train station before the time on the message.

After a few minutes of going through traffic and bustling pedestrians, Naruto finally made it to the subway line. Going on the elevator as instructed, Naruto was greeted by the sight of a dark haired boy with his head covered in a blue bandana. Naruto waved in greeting but the boy just ignored him.

'Jeeze, what a friendly guy. He could give Sasuke a run for his money on the people skills,' Naruto thought sarcastically as he thought about one of his closest friends and rivals, who was away on vacation at the time. The door to the elevator was about to close, when a boy wearing a red top over a yellow shirt and had a green cap on with goggles wrapped around his head jumped through the door and crashed onto the ground.

"Smooth landing," Naruto joked as he went to help the boy to his feet. Brushing himself off, the kid blushed a bit in embarrassment.

"Not one of my better moments," the boy muttered before smiling. "So did you guys get the phone call too? Oh, I'm Takuya by the way!"

Naruto grinned, "Nice ta meet you Takuya, I'm Naruto." The other boy just grunted, causing the other two to sweat-drop. "Anyway," Naruto continued while clearing his throat, "Yeah I got a phone call. Some lady talking about destiny and games and whatnot. Didn't have anything better to do so I figured I'd play along. Just hope this isn't a waste of time."

The elevator suddenly came to a stop and opened to a large station filled with kids of all ages and colorful trains all waiting on the tracks. Naruto looked at the scene and whistled, "Wow, maybe this'll be worth my time after all!"

Oh if only he knew.

**Flashback End**

'So here I am in a completely different world full of monsters, with a bunch of kids who couldn't work together if their lives depended on it. We're also responsible for finding Spirits of some Legendary Warriors to transform ourselves into monsters in order to save this world. Oh yeah, this was _so _worth my time,' Naruto thought ruefully as he glared at the screen of what was once his cell.

It wasn't all bad though. The other kids, while having more issues than an entire season of Dr. Phil put together, got along fairly well at times and were a decent bunch. Plus, he got to be in a whole other _world_! I mean, who all could say that?! Then there were the Spirits themselves. So far; Takuya, Tommy, the brooding kid Koji, and Zoe had all gotten their Spirits and became something out of a super hero comic book! While Koji didn't travel with them and the others were still getting used to their powers, Naruto couldn't help but admit that the whole Spirit thing was pretty darn cool! Only he and J.P. needed to get their Spirits, and then the whole group could fight. Personally, Naruto was rather excited at the idea of getting a Spirit of his own!

The whiskered blond was suddenly brought out of his musings when his D-Tector started beeping and a 3-D map popped up, showing a dot not too far from their location. "Hey guys!" he called out, getting the groups' attention. "I think my Spirit might be near!" he said in excitement.

"Really? That's so cool!" Tommy exclaimed while the others looked happy at the news, though J.P. looked a little put out since it meant he'd be getting his Spirit last.

"Does it give directions as to where the Spirit is, my dear boy?" Bokomon asked curiously, trying to peer at the taller human's D-Tector.

"It's…" Naruto hummed while studying the map. "That a way!" he decided while pointing at the deeper part of the forest. He started heading towards the area but then stopped and turned towards the other kids. "Hey guys, judging from past experience, some unforeseen detail is going to make this much harder than it needs to be. So if one of you with a Spirit would mind being right next to me while I lead the way, we might actually be prepared for once," he reasoned.

The other kids nodded at this logic while Takuya went to stand beside the blond. "Wow Naruto, that's pretty smart! Wonder why the other kids didn't think of that earlier?" Neemon said in that airy voice of his. Bokomon, in response, once more snapped Neemon's pants.

The smaller Digimon said in irritation, "That was because there was no time to be prepared for the worst, you twit!"

Ignoring the arguing pair, Naruto and Takuya walked carefully through the forest while following the dot on Naruto's blinking D-Tector. They walked for nearly a mile and the forest had grown so thick, the branches of the trees nearly blotted out the sun. Suddenly, the dot on the map started spinning wildly, indicating that the point had been reached. Looking around, Naruto couldn't see any signs of something that may hold a Spirit.

"Huh, I wonder where it's a-ACK!" J.P. wondered before yelping in shock as a sudden snare hoisted him up by his ankles. The other members of the group gave similar yelps as they too were hoisted up.

"BWAHAHAHA!" a deep voice cackled through the forest once all the kids were trapped. A large figure came into view and went to stand in the middle of the trapped heroes. "It looks like you all have fallen into Musyamon's trap! How fortunate…for ME!" the figure boasted as the shadows fell to reveal a samurai-like figure.

"Oh no! It's Musyamon! He's a samurai Digimon who enjoys a good battle, but is not above ambushing his prey!" Bokomon shouted in fright at the evil looking Digimon.

"Surrender all of your valuables, and I may kill you quickly!" Musyamon threatened as he unsheathed a katana easily as large as Naruto's whole body.

Naruto sweated at the predicament they were in before yelling out, "Hey guys, any time you want to step in would be nice!"

"Right!" the three who had Spirits shouted out while pulling out their D-Tectors and got ready to merge.

"Too slow!" Musyamon chortled as dark shapes suddenly leapt from the trees and snagged the D-Tectors from the humans at near impossible speeds. "My army of Ninjamon knows how to prevent flies from escaping the web," Musyamon chuckled as the figures revealed to be what looked like Pac-Men dressed up in ninja gear. "Now, what do we have here?" the samurai mused as the Ninjamon laid the devices at his feet. "Might fetch a decent price in a black market," he said after staring at them for a while.

'No way am I letting this jerk get the best of us, especially when I'm so close to my Spirit!' Naruto thought desperately as he looked around for a weapon. Getting a burst of inspiration, Naruto reached up until he could grasp his bound legs and removed his shoes from his feet. Pulling off his sneakers, Naruto found he had just enough room to wiggle out of his binds and fell to the forest floor with a thump.

One of the Ninjamon noticed this and whistled to his cohorts. Musyamon looked up as the blond child quickly got up on his feet. "Huh, looks like we've got a live one boys! Let's change that to having a dead one, yeah!" he shouted out while rushing over to Naruto with his sword drawn.

"Naruto run!" Zoe yelled at him as the Digimon all started to focus on the soon to be dead boy. Not needing told twice, Naruto ran to the largest tree in the clearing and stood in front of it, glaring defiantly at his attackers.

"Heh, I like that look in your eye kid. You've got guts. It's a shame I'm going to have to spill them!" Musyamon cried as he went for a slash.

'Now!' Naruto planned as he leapt under the wide swing. The sword cut through the tree like butter as the bandit Digimon turned to face their escaped prisoner.

"Not bad kid, but it'll take more than that to…huh?" Musyamon started to say before an ominous creaking sound filled his ears. Turning around, the samurai was startled to see that the tree he just cut was falling…right on top of him!

"ARGH!" Musyamon and several Ninjamon cried out as they were pinned under the tree, alive but very much in pain. "Brat! You'll pay for hurting our brethren!" Ninjamon angrily shouted as he threw a shuriken at the boy. Naruto tried to leap once more out of the way but was too slow this time and the throwing star grazed his shoulder, leaving a mild gash of blood to appear.

"NARUTO!" his friends shouted out as he grimaced in pain and fell to his knees. Another Ninjamon came up and was about to finish the boy with a kunai when suddenly, a bright light filled the area and momentarily blinded the Digimon. Peering through the light, Naruto could see an object rise from the stump of the tree that was just cut down and it started to float towards the boy.

"My Spirit…" Naruto gasped in awe as he brought up his D-Tector, momentarily forgetting the pain as the Spirit floated into the device. Looking at the enemy Digimon, Naruto gave a mischievous grin. "Oh, I'm going to enjoy this!" he laughed as he brought his D-Tector to bare.

"**Execute! Spirit Evolution!" **Naruto shouted out as he brought his hands together in a slashing motion, scanning the data that appeared on his left hand with the D-Tector in his right. A cocoon of data surrounded the boy and there was a flash as it dispersed, showing a new figure all together.

"**Arbormon!" **the new warrior cried out in a slightly deeper voice that still had traces of Naruto in it. The figure looked like a humanoid puppet with bulky light brown and orange-brown armor, somewhat small arms and legs, little yellow eyes peering through the darkness of his suit and a little sharp mouth.

"Who's that?" Neemon asked stupidly, despite the fact the new Digimon literally just shouted his name.

"Arbormon: The Spirit of Wood," Bokomon read from his book, which was impressive seeing as he was still dangling upside down from the snare. "This Cyborg Digimon has a great connection with all plant life and is said to control the forest itself."

"Let's get him!" One of the Ninjamon shouted out as he and six others jumped into the air, all intent on spearing the newly formed Digimon with various ninja weapons. Faster than the eye could follow, Arbormon sprang into the air right in the center of the descending ninjas.

"**Roundhouse Punt!" **he cried as he gave a punching motion with his fists and a kicking motion with his legs. Arbormon's limbs suddenly stretched out on long cables and nailed four of the Ninjamon right in the face. "Let's see how you like this!" Arbormon declared as he twisted his body in the air, causing his extended limbs to follow suit and impacted off the other attacking Ninjamon.

The ninja Digimon all collapsed onto the ground in a crumpled heap while Arbormon landed on the ground with a grace that you wouldn't expect from such a bulky looking figure. His limbs clicked back into place and he gave a good stretch as if he just got done with a workout. "Eh, that wasn't so tough," Arbormon said in a dismissive tone.

"Dude that was awesome!" Takuya cheered out as the other members of the group gave similar words of congratulations. For a moment, they thought they saw a blush touch on Naruto's armored cheeks as he rubbed the back of his head bashfully.

"Aw you guys, forget about it!" He said cheerfully. But before anything else could be done, there was a cracking sound as the fallen tree broke apart into bits of data to reveal a _very _ticked off Musyamon.

"Dang brat!" the samurai roared as his sword was coated in blue flames. **"Ninja Sword!" **he roared out as a wave of flames soared towards Arbormon.

Thinking quickly, Naruto extended his arm on its cable to a high up tree branch to avoid the wall of flame. The fire hit the tree behind him and the resulting flame started to pick up into a forest fire! "Oh no!" the kids cried out as the flames crept closer to their position.

Arbormon's yellow eyes widened in shock and he called out, "Hang on guys!" before launching himself into the air over Musyamon and shouted out, **"****Blockade Seed!" **His mouth opened and fired a seed the size of a football at his adversary.

"Ha! Is that the best you can do?!" the evil Digimon shouted out as he cut the seed cleanly in half. What he didn't expect, however, was for the two halves to go off like small bombs, throwing him forward onto the ground in pain. Before Musyamon could get back up and resume the attack, branches started to sprout out of the ground (1) and bound the samurai to the dirt. "W-what is this?!" he shouted out as he struggled against his restraints.

"If you're trying to get up, forget about it," Arbormon called over to Musyamon as he landed on the ground, focusing one hand in the fallen Digimon's direction. "I made those roots to be stronger than steel, so trying to break them with brute strength is pointless," he declared as his mouth opened up once more. "Here's hoping you make better decisions when you're reborn! **Blockade Seed!" **he finished by firing another football sized seed at the restrained Digimon.

The seed detonated, and Musyamon's Fractal Code sprang to life around him. Materializing his D-Tector in his hand, Naruto scanned the data saying, "If you think me and my friends will get taken out by the likes of creeps like you, forget about it!"

Once the Fractal Code was scanned and Musyamon's egg sped off into the distance, Arbormon turned to the spreading fire and gave a wave of his hand. The burning trees suddenly bent at unnatural angles and seemed to be rubbing themselves in the dirt, putting the fire out in the process. Seeing the burnt forest around him, Naruto held his D-Tector in front of himself and called out, **"Fractal Code: Realize!" **

The data collected from Musyamon sped out of the device and seemed to heal the forest at an impressive rate. The wounded Ninjamon started coming to and looked at the wooden warrior in fear. "H-he took out Musyamon!" one shouted while another said, "We're no match for him! Run!"

With that, they all through down a smoke bomb and disappeared into the Digital forest. Later, Naruto managed to cut down the other kids and handed them back their D-Tectors. They all congratulated him on both receiving his Spirit and for single handedly taking down a gang of bandit. A blush adorned Naruto's whiskered cheeks and he happily replied, "Aw forget about it! Now's all we gotta do is find J.P.'s Spirit and then we can find out why we're here. Let's get to it!" he declared and the others all voiced their agreement.

**Scene Break (Location Unknown)**

A Ninjamon screamed as he burst into data. The others of the former bandit group cowered over the towering figure that loomed over them. "Well, that news was rather unfortunate. Who would have thought some of my best soldiers were defeated by mere human children?" A silky, sinister voice echoed through the cavern. A light hissing sound seemed to come from the figure as eight head-like shadows adorned the far side of the cave.

"You," the figure said, gesturing towards another of the Ninjamon who gulped nervously, "Please explain to me how Musyamon and your entire battalion were so easily defeated. If I find your answer lacking I will be most…_displeased _with you," the figure hissed dangerously.

Sweat coated the Ninjamon's masked face. "L-Lord Orochimon, you have to understand! The children were in possession of at least one Spirit of the Legendary Warriors! And the way Musyamon was dealt with so easily, we figured the best we could do was come and inform you of the situation!"

The figure seemed to pause at that. "Legendary Warriors, you say?" the shadow seemed to creep closer to the Ninjamon who rapidly nodded his head in confirmation. "Well, it is good that you decided to tell me this. However, the last time I checked it only took one to deliver a message. You shall be spared. As for the rest of you," he drawled, looking at the remaining cowering Ninjamon, "I have no need for cowards who run!"

Shrill screams echoed through the cavern for a minute or two and when it was done, only the one Ninjamon and the large figure remained. "You may go," the beast said to the now pale ninja Digimon. Once he was sure he was alone, the monster stopped to ponder his situation. "Hmm, it does not bode well for me nor my plans if those children catch wind of what I am doing. Especially if they really do possess the power of the Legendary Warriors. Perhaps I should offer my services to Cherubimon and his Legendary Warriors for now, until I'm certain my rule is securely within my grasp. Soon, this world will know the power of Orochimon!" the figure then gave a high cold laugh that seemed to come from eight people instead of one, and it echoed throughout the cavern in a chilling symphony.

Needless to say, this story was just getting started…

1\. I know that Arbormon doesn't technically control plants in canon like I show him here, but since I'm also basing it off Wood Release that means he can in my story.


	4. Notice

**Notice: Please Read, Important!**

Hello all my loyal readers! While I'm working on the latest chapter on 'Return of the Awakened' I thought I'd do this little notice for all my challenge stories out there. Despite my best efforts to explain that these works are challenges, a good deal of the reviews I get are people asking me to continue these stories. Now don't get me wrong, no one would want to see these stories done more than me but the fact remains is that as of now I have 6 ongoing stories to write. Now while I could do more, the update time between each story would grow more and more distant, and honestly I do not want to do that to you loyal readers. The reason that I write these challenges is to get my ideas out there in the hopes that another author is willing and/or able to make another of my ideas come true. In fact the only reason that the first 6 are ongoing stories is due to the fact that I had a really good idea for the plots and I also didn't really think to post challenges as one-shot stories at the time. If a time comes where one of the stories is completed, I may consider taking up one of the challenges myself. As it is now though, these challenges are all one-shots and will not be continued further than the initial chapter.

While some of these challenges have multiple chapters, this is due to the fact that I've had more than one idea under the challenges category, and have posted them as a series of one-shots instead of a continuous story. I hope this removes some confusion. Also, if anyone wishes to see all my works, including the stories that got adopted and are now going strong, please check out my community that I posted recently. Who knows, you might find one of the stories you wanted continued on their some day! Again, these stories are challenges people so if you or if you think a friend of yours would be interested in doing the story, please let me know either by **PM **or **Reviewing**. Me and the other readers would greatly appreciate it!

The list of my ongoing stories is as follows: **Chimera Luffy, Kid Kyubi, Naruto and Tora, Jealous Fox, Return of the Awakened, and Yellow Flash Blue Blur. **All other works are one-shot challenges, with more to follow shortly. I hope this clears things up, and that you all have a Merry Christmas!


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I don't own much…just your souls! MWAHAHAHAHA!

**AN: **Here's the latest of my Naruto/Digimon story ideas! Now while most of my stories have been Naruto being born or taken to one of the worlds from the Digimon seasons, this one will take place purely in the Narutoverse. I planned for this challenge to only have one Digimon, but if you can make it believable more can show up. For this challenge chapter, it occurs when Naruto is nine years old and is doing an extra credit assignment for the Academy which takes him to the woods in the Hidden Leaf. Once there, he discovers a strange looking egg. Curious, Naruto takes it home to see what hatches from it. A few days later, the egg hatches into a Punimon! Naruto, curious about the strange creature, reaches out to touch it when he's suddenly burned by a burst of data. When he looks at his hand, he finds the Zero Unit symbol burned onto the palm of his hand. Shrugging it off for now, Naruto decides to keep the strange creature as a pet/friend.

Later, Naruto practices on unlocking his chakra and unknowingly causes Punimon to Digivolve into Tsunomon! See, the Zero Unit mark linked the two and acted as a Digivice but is activated by Naruto's chakra (1). The more chakra Naruto focuses, the higher level the Digivolution. For example, on the night of the Graduation Exam, Tsunomon will Digivolve to Gabumon. During the Sand/Sound Invasion will be Garurumon. At the Valley of the End will be WereGarurumon. When Naruto learns Sage Mode he'll reach MetalGarurumon. When Naruto gains control of Kurama's chakra it'll be ZeedGarurumon. And finally, when he reaches Asura Mode Gabumon will Digivolve into MagnaGarurumon.

Also, when Naruto first uses tainted Kyuubi chakra he'll do Dark Digivolution.

Way I see it, Gabumon and his forms are some of the coolest Digimon, but there are so many cool ones he kinda gets put on the backburner, including by me.

Again, _**CHALLENGE**_ people! That means that unless I say otherwise, this will be the only chapter until the story is adopted. So please, if you or anyone else you know is interested, please let me know so we don't let this idea go to waste.

**Forests of Konoha**

"Okay so the next thing on the list is…a bird's egg," a nine year old blonde boy name Naruto Uzumaki said as he looked at a list in his hands. The boy wore a white tee shirt and tan shorts that were stained with dirt along with his face. You see, Naruto was currently doing an extra credit assignment for the Ninja Academy that involved a scavenger hunt of sorts. While not normally one to do anything beyond the normal range of assignments for school (and even that is iffy), his sensei Iruka had the idea of how to make it more interesting for the student he saw as a little brother of sorts. The chunin instructor, knowing Naruto usually lacked the drive to do serious school work (himself having the same problem as a child), he decided to give the whiskered boy an assignment that also functioned as a game as well, catching Naruto's interest. Also, the list of items that the man had used for the assignment contained some fairly hard to find items around the village, so it would also be a good way to teach the child how to do a search and recovery like what he'd be expected to do as a ninja.

While given the entirety of Spring Break to do the assignment, Naruto was actually having fun with the work he was assigned. Plus, with a bit of luck (though he'd say it was because of his mad skills), Naruto had already found most of the items with a few days to spare, which was good since he wanted to get his quota of pranks in before break ended. Some of the last few items though couldn't be found in the village itself, which led to the blonde currently making his way through the forests that are located both in and out of the village. He'd been working at this for several hours already, and Naruto was determined to find at least one more item before calling it a day.

"If I was a bird's egg, I'd be in a nest, right? So now all I gotta do is find a nest, and those are usually in trees," concluded the jinchuriki as he kept his eyes on the branches of the many trees surrounding him. So absorbed with his task that he failed to notice the sharp incline until he'd already started to tumble down it. "What the - ?!" he exclaimed as he started rolling down the hill he was on, bouncing along the grass, prickly bushes, and occasional rock along the way. "OOH! AHH! OUCH! ARG!" was the shouts coming from the boy along with curses that would make a sailor blush.

Finally, Naruto came to the end of the hill and landed in a pile of leaves that had been left over from the previous Fall. Groaning with swirls in his eyes, Naruto laid there for a couple minutes before he gained enough of his senses to feel something hard poking into his back. With a heave, Naruto got up to his feet and turned around to look at what was poking him. What he saw made him gasp. There, hidden partially by the leaves, was an _enormous _egg! While most of the eggs the blonde had ever seen ranged from chicken eggs to smaller, this egg had to be at least the size of the balls he'd seen kids kick around in the park! Also, the egg was covered in white and blue stripes unlike the plain colors most eggs have.

Curiosity overriding any sense of caution he might have, Naruto gained a big grin. "Well, it might not be like any bird's egg I'd ever seen, but I'm gonna take you home anyway. Who knows, maybe Iruka-sensei will give me extra _extra _credit for this!" With that, Naruto took off his shirt and carefully wrapped it around the egg so it wouldn't get damaged. After slowly climbing back up the hill, the blonde headed back towards his apartment located in the village. Once there, Naruto set the egg down on his kitchen table and placed a few towels around it to make a makeshift nest. Still smiling, Naruto said, "Heh, I wonder what you'll hatch into? If I ask him enough, maybe Iruka-sensei will allow me to keep you as a pet!"

While not quite as good as human companionship, Naruto had figured he would settle for having a pet of his own one day. The only issue was that none of the pet stores in the village would sell any animals to him, claiming him to be too young, and the Old Man warned him not to pick up strays as they might be dangerous. But, a newborn bird (or whatever was in the egg) wasn't _technically _a stray, right? That means that as soon as it hatches, Naruto should be able to get the pet he always wanted without issue. After having a dinner of instant ramen and getting ready for bed, Naruto had made sure to put the egg in a safe corner of his room so it wouldn't fall and break. With happy thoughts on what would hatch out of the egg, Naruto fell into a peaceful sleep.

Hours later, Naruto was awoken by a strange tapping and creaking noise. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, Naruto gasped as he saw the strange egg was rocking back and forth, with small cracks forming along its surface. "It's hatching!" Naruto whispered in excitement, getting out of bed and crawling closer to the rapidly cracking egg.

Finally, with a final jerk, the egg shattered. Naruto blinked, as the being that came out of the egg was something he had never seen, or even heard of, before. For starters, the being was red in color and had no distinguishable limbs besides three bumps that looked like both its ears and a tail. Also, two large and curious eyes blinked up at the blonde, yet no other facial features were to be seen. Lastly, the beings body almost seemed like it was made out of jello or something similar as it quivered on the apartment floor. The thing blinked up at Naruto who blinked back. "Umm…hi?" Naruto said awkwardly after a few moments of silence.

The thing hopped closer to the blonde, who initially felt the need to back up but something held him in place. The blob sniffed at the whiskered boy when it reached him despite not having any noticeable nose and, once it finished, looked up and seemed to smile at the blonde by the way its eyes seemed to crinkle up into upside down u's. The being then gave out a cry that was more of a squeak that sounded like "Punimon!"

"Punimon? Is that your name?" Naruto asked as he knelt beside the small red glob.

"Puni, Puni~!" the now identified Punimon cried out happily as it hopped in place. Despite the weirdness of the situation, Naruto's heart couldn't help but melt at the cuteness of the scene.

"Heh, well Punimon, my name's Naruto Uzumaki! Pleased to meet you!" he greeted while reaching down with his right hand to pat the little guy on the head. As soon as Naruto's hand made contact with Punimon's gelatinous flesh, there was a flash of light that seemed to be made of ones and zeros. The sudden intensity of it caused Naruto to turn his head away from the light, yet he felt that his hand couldn't move and started to feel warm for some reason. The feeling only lasted for a minute though, and when it finished Naruto felt that he could move again and he did so by falling firmly on his butt while looking at his hand trying to figure out what was done to him. When he saw where warm spot was Naruto couldn't help but stare. On the palm of his hand was a brand new symbol that took the shape of one large triangle formed from four smaller ones, the center of which was red in color (Zero Unit).

**Mindscape**

Kurama, the Nine-Tailed Fox, stared at his right hand paw in confusion. He was awoken from his nap by a warm sensation bothering his hand and when he looked at it this weird triangle symbol had been etched onto his palm. Somehow, the mighty fox knew this had something to do with his 'warden', but due to the seal his ability to see into the outside world was limited. As it stood, it would probably take another three years before the Tailed Beast could actively see his host's surroundings. Shrugging off the strange symbol when he couldn't feel anything negative about it, the fox settled down to go to sleep once more, but not before having one final thought, **"Hmph, you better watch what you get yourself into brat. I'd hate to die because of your stupidity."**

**Real World (Morning)**

Naruto squinted his eyes in a foxlike manner as he stared at the strange symbol that remained etched on his hand. After receiving it last night, the blonde had thought that maybe it was caused by some dirt or something from touching Punimon, despite the latter having no visible marking on its body. The ninja in training had washed his hand in his bathroom sink for the better part of a half hour before concluding that the mark, whatever it was, was either seared onto his hand or it was like a permanent marker and would fade in time.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, guess it doesn't matter anyway. Maybe people will think it's a cool tattoo like those Anbu guys have!" Besides, after the initial heat, the mark didn't hurt anymore and it actually looked pretty cool. Turning to his kitchen's one other occupant, Naruto grinned as he saw Punimon looking at him curiously from the kitchen table. After failing to scrub off the mark, Naruto had decided to let his new pet sleep in his bed that night with the red blob snuggling in comfortably on top of his blankets. Naruto figured that he'd keep the strange creature at least until after break, then he'd show both Iruka-sensei and the Old Man, the former whom would hopefully tell him exactly what Punimon _was_ while the latter would hopefully allow him to keep the strange creature.

Until then *growl* it was breakfast time. Getting out a package of instant ramen, the blonde went about cooking while chatting idly with Punimon, who watched the blonde the entire time with curious and innocent eyes. After the agonizingly long three minute wait, Naruto poured the ramen into a bowel and, after some thought, he poured a small amount into another bowel for his new animal friend. At first he was worried that the creature might get sick off the human food, but quickly dismissed it as ramen is the greatest food in the world. In other words, no one could get sick of it…EVER! Naruto set the smaller bowel in front of Punimon and sat down to enjoy his own ramen while watching to see what the small animal would do. At first, the little red blob sniffed at the bowel of noodlely goodness with its unseen nose before its eyes went up into that smile shape again. It was then that Punimon showed that it did in fact have a mouth as it opened wide and started eating the ramen at a pace even Naruto had trouble keeping up with.

After breakfast the two let out nearly echoing burps before the nine year old placed the bowels in the sink to do later. He then started by playing around with Punimon for a bit in order to see what it can and cannot do. They did a few simple things like playing fetch, tag, hide-and-seek, etc., all of which the small animal did with a great deal of enthusiasm as it cheered out its name happily. Finally around late morning, Naruto decided that it was time to get some training done. With Punimon watching from the couch, Naruto stood in the middle of his small apartment and began going over the Academy's katas. While not the greatest when it comes to taijutsu, Naruto was pleased to notice that his movements were becoming easier in comparison to how they were when he first started the Academy. He then practiced his kunai and shuriken throwing by using blunted versions on a target he placed on one of the more scuffed up walls of the apartment for a few minutes before he was satisfied that he was indeed getting better at hitting the target from a distance. Then came the part that he both loved and hated the most: chakra practice.

He loved this part of his studies because he knew that, once he got it down, he could do all sorts of cool jutsu and be one step closer to becoming Hokage. On the other hand, it was the subject that he was struggling in the most. He asked Iruka-sensei why this was and the chunin, after some thought, concluded that the blonde simply had so much chakra, that it was extra hard for him to use (2). The scarred teacher then gave Naruto a set of exercises he was to try at least once a day in order to help with his control, which the boy did eagerly as he wanted to get as good as possible so he wouldn't get shown up by his classmates, especially that jerk Sasuke. The first exercise was fairly easy: see how much chakra you can unlock at once then pull it back as quickly as you can.

As Naruto got ready to unleash his chakra, he failed to notice the red part of his new marking had started to glow faintly, nor that Punimon was now looking at him intently and had a small glow about its body as well. Finally, Naruto unleashed his chakra, which started to surround his body in bluish tendrils (3). Naruto's eyes snapped open after a few moments of this as he noticed two bright glows filling his vision, one blue while the other red. The red glow came from his right hand while the blue glow was coming from Punimon as it was surrounded in a light that appeared to be made of ones and zeros like the light that appeared when the two touched for the first time.

In his surprise, Naruto quickly cut off his chakra flow and both glows faded. While his hand returned to normal, what was now sitting on his couch was _not _Punimon. The new creature was still just a head, but it was now about twice as big as Punimon was. Also, instead of being a red blob, this creature was covered in orange fur while the fur on its face was more peach colored. While still not having a distinguishable nose, the being now had a noticeable mouth that was curled up into a grin while the eyes were bright red with a mischievous tint to them but also showing a keen mind. Finally, the most distinguishing feature on the new being was the long, curved, and pointed obsidian colored horn on the top of its head.

The two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before the orange head-thingy seemed to smile wider and said in the voice of a young boy, "Heya Naruto!"

**The Village Hidden in Sound**

A pale man looked up from his research as he heard a high pitched girlish scream.

"Hmm, I didn't think there were any planned torture sessions today," the man shrugged before turning back to his work.

**Naruto's Apartment**

Naruto had flipped his kitchen table to use as a barricade between himself and the amused looking creature. He stammered, "W-what are you?! What did to Punimon? Oh God you ATE him didn't you!?"

The being laughed as he bounced closer to the cowering blonde. Grinning up at him, the being said, "Don't be silly, I AM Punimon. Or at least I was, now I Digivolved into Tsunomon!"

Naruto blinked down at the now named Tsunomon, his fright momentarily forgotten in his confusion. "Digivolve? Tsunomon?" he asked as he started to get out from behind the table.

Tsunomon leapt up to Naruto's chest level and the whiskered boy reflexively caught him. Looking up at the human with a reassuring smile, the orange ball explained, "Yep! Y'see, my species has the ability to mature into a more powerful form over time called 'Digivolving.' Right now I'm in my 'In-Training' phase while Punimon was my 'Baby' phase. As we Digivolve, our species name changes to match our forms as well. And because I'm more mature now I can actually speak to you properly."

Naruto, sitting on the couch with Tsunomon still sitting on his lap tried to process what was being told to him. While not considered the brightest of students, Naruto was able to understand most of what was being said to him. A few questions plagued his reeling mind, however. "So wait, you said your species as in there are more of you? Also, how many forms do you have? And how did you Digivolve anyway?" he asked.

"Well in order of your questions, first of all yeah there are others of my species though they're in my home world called the Digital World. From what I know thanks to my inherited memories, there was a small Digital Field that formed a link between our worlds a while back which dropped my egg off before closing (4). The species that live in my home world like me are collectively called Digimon, or Digital Monsters! Secondly, there are several forms that I know of. I already mentioned 'Baby' and 'In-Training', and there is also 'Rookie', 'Champion', 'Ultimate', and 'Mega'. There are rumored to be others, but I don't really know much about them. Finally, I Digivolved thanks to you!"

Naruto's mind nearly felt overloaded with all the strange and new information given to him. First of all there was that whole 'Digital Monster' thing. That kind of confused him, as the being in front of him didn't look anything like what he'd expect a monster to look like. The fright he had earlier was just from his confusion and shock at the situation, but now that he'd calmed down somewhat, he could honestly say that Tsunomon was, for lack of a better term, cute (the orange fur probably helped some). Filing away some of the new questions that were buzzing in his head for later, one of the bits of info brought up a big one. "Wait, what do you mean I helped you Digivolve?" Naruto asked in confusion.

Pointing his horn to Naruto's hand Tsunomon said, "Whenever we touched for the first time, that created a link between us thanks to the energy Digimon naturally possess and that bluish energy you were using earlier. That mark helps to symbolize our bond and whenever you start to use so much energy it can help to power my Digivolution. Each new form requires more energy though, so I think that this form is all we can manage for now. As we get stronger together I'm sure we'll unlock more forms, right buddy?"

"Did…did you just call me buddy?" Naruto questioned quietly, not quite daring to believe his ears.

"Well yeah, I mean you helped hatch me and allowed me to Digivolve. That makes us partners, doesn't it? Uh…Naruto?" Tsunomon frowned as he saw the tears building up in his new friend's eyes. He barely had time to question it though as Naruto picked up the young Digimon and embraced him in a hug. Tsunomon tried to return it as best he could despite lacking proper limbs while Naruto couldn't help but think that today was the best day ever.

**Time Skip (3 Years Later) **(5)

"Naruto!" Tsunomon cried out worriedly as his friend was thrown roughly to the ground. The culprit, a rouge chunin instructor named Mizuki sneered at the small Digimon's attempt at stopping him from beating the demon brat. After his plans were ruined for having the fox brat steal the Forbidden Scroll when he actually managed to pass the exam, the chunin decided he'd give a little payback before going to steal the scroll himself. It was easy enough to find the boy, as he and his little 'pet' went into this area of the Leaf's woods every day to train, and sure enough the two were there celebrating the demon's success with some carry out ramen. Now the treacherous man was advancing on the blonde with a large shuriken, intent on ending his life once and for all.

Mizuki suddenly yelped in pain as Tsunomon, in his desperation, went for a flying tackle with his small body that lodged his large horn into the man's leg. Pulling him out with a grunt, Mizuki tossed the Digimon to the ground next to him and began to twirl his shuriken in a threatening manner. "I planned on killing the Nine Tails first," he snarled at the downed Digital Monster, "But now you die first!" he roared as he went in for the kill.

Naruto, who was struggling to get up, saw the man approach his closest friend and dread filled him. "NO! TSUNOMON!" he cried out while subconsciously pushing chakra into his body so he'd make it in time. He didn't even notice the red triangle starting to light up again for the first time in years as his chakra built up, but he did notice the familiar glow surrounding Tsunomon. As the light grew in intensity, Mizuki was forced to squint but managed to bring his arm down for the fatal slash. Instead, a clawed hand grabbed his wrist and both ninja could only gape at the new creature standing before them.

Unlike Tsunomon, this creature had limbs and distinguishable facial features. He now was a maroon-eyed yellow-skinned lizard in a bluish-white pelt with navy blue markings that also covered his hands with long purple claws. A yellow horn protrudes at the top of his head and his belly is blue with unusual pink markings. "T-Tsunomon?" Naruto questioned looking at his partner.

Still holding the chunin back with one hand, the wolf-like creature gave the blonde a reassuring grin. "Actually, it's Gabumon. Now," he then snarled with his slightly deeper voice while turning to the now sweating Mizuki, "This is for hurting my friend! **Blue Blaster!**" With that he opened his mouth and a stream of blue flames shot out into the man's face. As the man screamed and fell back, the now named Gabumon turned to his friend and offered him a hand. "You ready for some epic payback Naruto?" he asked.

Grinning, Naruto grabbed his partner's hand and replied, "Always!"

1\. I got the idea of burning the Zero Unit onto his hand to link them from the movie/book Eragon. That was what linked the Dragon with the Dragon Rider.

2\. It always bothered me that Naruto never went to Iruka about his problem with chakra, nor that Iruka ever went to discuss the problem with him. Especially because they apparently had a close relationship in the Academy days. So in this challenge I'd like for Naruto to be a little wiser. Not smarter per say like how some stories have him at Shikamaru level smart but just having a bit more common sense like to ask people he trusts when he needs help.

3\. Think on the first chapter/episode of Naruto when Mizuki blabbed about the Nine Tails to Naruto and how Naruto started channeling his chakra in his hurt/angry/confused state. I figure it would make for a good chakra exercise for ninjas to unleash as much chakra as they can before pulling it back in as quickly as possible, kind of like stretching for an exercise.

4\. I believe all Digimon have inherited memories like how some animals inherit their instinct, that's how the Digimon from canon seem to know so much about other Digimon and the happenings of the Digital World despite not meeting them before. Also, the Digital Field was caused by a weak raise in technology in the Elemental Nations, like what happened in Snow Country, which allowed a Digital Field to momentarily open between the worlds but not enough to keep it open like between the Digital World and the Human World from the show.

5\. This is just a small preview of how I think it would go down during the Graduation Exam arc. There is some other things I hope to see in between the two though, so don't hesitate to ask if/when you adopt it.

**AN2: **Sorry if this one seems to have taken awhile, works been picking up and I haven't had a ton of time to write. I won't let that stop me, however! I hope to have something posted every other week at the very latest, but don't quote me on that. Anyway, I think this is one of the stories that I _**MIGHT **_consider doing in the future after I finish one of my other continuous stories, but don't let that discourage you from adopting this. After all, who knows what the future will bring? If you wish to adopt this, please let me know either by PM or Review.


End file.
